Egypt instigates media blackout, police target journalists

New York, January 28, 2011--Egyptian
authorities have taken unprecedented measures to block media coverage of
widespread protests against the government, which are on their fourth day. CPJ
condemns Cairo's news blackout and calls for authorities to immediately restore
Internet and mobile phone services, end the targeting of the press, and allow
media to conduct their work freely.

Since Tuesday, Egypt has witnessed widespread
protests against poverty and corruption, and calls for democratic changes. Authorities
suspended Internet and mobile phone service, according to news
reports and mobile
operators, in an attempt to block media coverage and communications between
protesters. Security forces today continued violent physical attacks
on journalists.

"We are deeply disturbed by the government's
efforts to impose a media blackout in Egypt," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem,
CPJ's Middle East and North
Africa program coordinator. "Security forces are also becoming increasingly
violent against both demonstrators and journalists. The government in Cairo seems to have
learned nothing from the Tunisian experience that unfolded just two short weeks
ago."

CPJ is tracking how the Egyptian
government is shutting down Internet access and SMS service. See CPJ Internet
Advocacy Coordinator Danny O'Brien's piece
on the situation here.

"There
is no greater disruption for the work of journalists than the disruption of
mobile phone services and text messages; this in itself constitutes an attack
on journalists and their freedom to cover the events that are shaking Egypt
now," Al-Jazeera correspondent Samir Ali said on-air.

Below is a list of attacks in which security forces have targeted
journalists:

BBC
correspondent Asadallah al-Sawi was injured when security forces hit him
in the back of the head, sources within the BBC Arabic service told CPJ.
Al-Sawi was taken to the hospital and is recovering. (See BBC video of the
journalist describing his beating here.)

Ahmad
Mansour, a veteran Al-Jazeera journalist, was detained for over an hour in
front of the Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo, Al-Jazeera reported. The
Qatar-based satellite station reported that several journalists were prevented
from entering Egypt through the Cairo International Airport, including its
own reporter, Yassir Abu Hilala.

Four French
journalists, working for Le Figaro,
Journal du Dimanche, Sipa Photo Agency,
and Paris Match, have been
detained while covering street protests in Cairo, according to news
reports.

CNN
journalists were assaulted and their equipment confiscated while covering
the street protests, the station reported.
Ben Wedeman, CNN senior international correspondent, and Mary Rogers, a photojournalist
with Wedemen, were surrounded and attacked by plainclothes police who took
their cameras.

Gamal Fahmy, a senior member of the Egyptian
Journalists' Syndicate, told CPJ that photographers and cameramen have been
clearly targeted since demonstrations started on Tuesday. "There is a clear
trend of attacking photographers and cameramen, confiscating their equipment or
erasing their memory cards and the goal is clear: to interfere with images of
the demonstrations," Fahmy said.

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